At least 40 people were killed in the U.S. attack on Venezuela early Saturday, including military personnel and civilians, according to a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe preliminary reports. President Trump, speaking on Fox News on Saturday, said that no American troops had been killed. He suggested, however, that some service members had been injured. Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said later in the day at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago with Mr. Trump that U.S. helicopters moving to extract President Nicolás Maduro and his wife had come under fire. He said that one helicopter had been hit but “remained flyable,” and that all U.S. aircraft “came home.” About half a dozen soldiers were injured in the overall operation to capture Mr. Maduro, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. In the immediate aftermath of the U.S. attack, details began to emerge of the death of a Venezuelan civilian in Catia La Mar, a low-income coastal area just west of the Caracas airport. There, an airstrike hit a three-story civilian apartment complex and knocked out an exterior wall early Saturday as U.S. forces assaulted the city. The strike killed Rosa González, 80, her family said, and seriously wounded a second person. In the afternoon, a government investigator was present in the area of the strike, interviewing witnesses and picking up projectiles. Wilman González, Ms. Gonzalez’s nephew, said he ducked when heard the strike at about 2 a.m. but nearly lost an eye. He had three stitches on the side of his face. Mr. González, who appeared numb hours later, showed journalists where the U.S. ordnance had hit. Asked where he would go now that he lost his home, he said simply, “I don’t know.” He spoke little as he bent down and searched for whatever valuables he could salvage. He picked up an old umbrella and carried a set of drawers. The strike left the interior of an apartment exposed to the public. Among the wreckage was a portrait of Venezuelan independence hero Simón Bolívar that looked like it had been riddled with shrapnel. One neighbor, a 70-year-old man named Jorge who declined to give his last name, said he lost everything in the airstrike. Several people were gathered outside on Saturday afternoon while others searched what remained of their apartments. Most were barely speaking. Some of the residents outside were praying. Others were angry. One man, who gave his name as Javier, blamed greed for the attack on Venezuela, an apparent reference to the Trump administration’s stated desire to let American companies take control of Venezuelan oil fields. The lives of people like him, he said, meant nothing. The residents said that four men had tried to rescue Ms. González after the airstrike. They carried her onto a motorbike and took her to a hospital, but she was declared dead on arrival. Another woman was also taken to the hospital; residents were later told that she had survived, but was in critical condition.

Catia La Mar, Vargas, Venezuela matiasdelacroixVerified 1dResidents look at a damaged apartment complex that neighbors say was hit during U.S. strikes to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.A tense calm held in Venezuela on Sunday, one day after President Nicolás Maduro was deposed and captured in an American military operation.Venezuela’s capital Caracas was unusually quiet Sunday with few vehicles moving around. Convenience stores, gas stations and other businesses were mostly closed.Outside the capital, in La Guaira state, families with houses damaged in blasts during the operation that captured Maduro and his wife were still cleaning up debris. Some buildings were left with walls gaping open.@apnews

#Jan3 | SOUBLETTE BLOCK affected during attack in Catia la Mar… more

#03Ene | BLOQUE DE LA SOUBLETTE afectado durante ataque en Catia la Mar … more

From the Presidential Security Battalion, the following died: Lieutenant Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto; honor guards Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon, and Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont; and Corporal Luis Enrry López Sánchez. Also killed were members of the so-called "Bravo Squadron" from the same battalion, including Lieutenant Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos and Sergeant Richard. Lee Rodríguez Bellorín, as well as members of the 3rd Custodial Battalion: Sergeants Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga and Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velásquez, honor guard Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo, and Military Academy students Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguished) and Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez. This group also includes bodyguard Juan Escalona, who was part of Maduro's security detail; First Lieutenant Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres of the Military Aviation, who was at the Tettra Network Teleport, located at the Communications Directorate of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela in Fort Tiuna; and another member of the FANB identified as Lenín Osorio Ramírez, son of Soraida Ramírez, president of the Autonomous Institute National Council for the Human Rights of Children and Adolescents (Idenna). Although their names are unknown, unofficial reports indicated that there were six other deaths in several of the bombed facilities: two at the General Command of the Bolivarian Militia, whose headquarters are 500 meters from the Mountain Barracks, where Hugo Chávez's remains are located; and two more victims at the Óscar Machado Zuloaga Caracas Airport in Valles del Tuy. One person died at the Admiral José María García Air Defense Missile Group and another at the Altos de Irapa Radar Station. The death of a woman (her daughter was injured) was also reported in the municipality of El Hatillo, south of the Venezuelan capital, in a house near the "El Volcán" mountain, where a series of transmission antennas are located. The woman was identified as Johanna Sierra. Likewise, the death of 78-year-old Rosa González was confirmed. She lived in block 12 on Prolongación Soublette in Catia La Mar, a housing complex adjacent to the area attacked on the Mamo Plateau, at the Venezuelan Navy's military installations. Read The New York Times reported that 40 people had died, according to an anonymous source in the Venezuelan government, but did not reveal the names of the victims. The bombings also left an undetermined number of injured, and possibly more dead. However, Venezuelan authorities have not provided any information about the victims. The attacks also left dozens wounded. According to a hospital report compiled by the Network of Doctors in Venezuela, as of 2:00 p.m. on January 3, 90 people had been admitted to various hospitals in the Capital District with injuries resulting from the bombings. The Dr. Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital received 60 injured people, and another 30 at the Fuerte Tiuna Military Hospital. The association also notes that several deaths have not yet been counted.

Del Batallón de Seguridad Presidencial murieron el teniente Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto; los guardias de honor Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon e Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont; además del cabo segundo Luis Enrry López Sánchez. También murieron miembros del llamado “Escuadrón Bravo” del mismo batallón, como el teniente Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos y el sargento segundo Richard. Lee Rodríguez Bellorín, así como efectivos del Batallón De Custodia número 3: las sargentas segundo Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga y Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velasquez, el guardia de honor Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo, así como los alumnos de la Academia Militar, Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguido) y Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez. A este grupo se suma el escolta Juan Escalona, quien formaba parte del anillo de seguridad de Maduro; además de la primera teniente de la Aviación Militar, Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres, quien estaba en el Telepuerto de la Red Tettra, ubicada en la Dirección de Comunicaciones de la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana de Venezuela en Fuerte Tiuna; y otro miembro de la FANB identificado como Lenín Osorio Ramírez, hijo de Soraida Ramírez, presidenta del Instituto Autónomo Consejo Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes (Idenna). Aunque no se conocen sus nombres, reportes extraoficiales indicaron que hubo otros 6 muertos en varias de las dependencias bombardeadas: 2 en la Comandancia General de la Milicia Bolivariana, cuya sede está a 500 metros del Cuartel de la Montaña, donde están los restos de Hugo Chávez; otras 2 víctimas en el Aeropuerto Caracas Óscar Machado Zuloaga, en Valles del Tuy; 1 persona fallecida en el Grupo Misilístico de Defensa Aérea Almirante José María García y 1 persona más en la Estación de Radar de Altos de Irapa. También se conoció de la muerte de una mujer (su hija resultó herida) en el municipio El Hatillo, al sur de la capital venezolana, en una casa en las inmediaciones de la montaña “El Volcán”, donde está una serie de antenas de transmisión. La mujer fue identificada como Johanna Sierra. Así mismo, se confirmó la muerte de Rosa González de 78 años de edad, quien vivía en el bloque 12 en la prolongación Soublette en Catia La Mar, un urbanismo aledaño a la zona atacada en la Meseta de Mamo, en las instalaciones militares de la Armada venezolana. Lee El diario The New York Times reportó que habían muerto 40 personas, según una fuente anónima del Gobierno de Venezuela, pero no reveló los nombres de las víctimas. Los bombardeos también dejaron un número indetermiado de heridos, y posiblemente más personas muertas. Sin embargo, las autoridades venezolanas no han suministrado información sobre las víctimas. Los ataques también dejaron decenas de heridos. Según un reporte de hospitales que realiza la Red de Médicos en Venezuela hasta las 14:00 horas del 3 de enero se había registrado el ingreso de 90 personas heridas a distintos hospitales del Distrito Capital, producto de los bombardeos. El Hospital Militar Dr. Carlos Arvelo recibió 60 lesionados y 30 más en el Hospitalito de Fuerte Tiuna. La asociación también advierte que varios fallecidos aún no han sido contabilizados.

A Bellingcat investigation has identified remnants of an AGM-88 series missile inside a three-storey apartment complex that was hit in Catia La Mar during the US military raid on Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026 that reportedly killed at least one civilian.  According to the Venezuelan independent media outlet, El Pitazo, Rosa Gonzalez, 79, was killed in this airstrike in the city of Catia La Mar in La Guaira State, 30 km north of the capital Caracas. The attack reportedly left a second individual severely wounded. Bellingcat asked the US Department of Defense to confirm our findings. However, they stated that “a Battle Damage Assessment is ongoing”. We also reached out to the Department of State but they did not respond to our questions at the time of publication. The Jan. 3 US attack on Venezuela targeted multiple locations across the country, including military installations and areas within and around the capital, Caracas. US military helicopters, jets and drones provided cover for an assault force that landed at Fort Tiuna,  the largest military complex in Caracas; captured President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, and flew them out of the country. About 75 people, including civilians, were killed in the operation, US officials familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. Among the military fatalities were 32 Cuban and 21 Venezuelan soldiers, according to various media reports. According to El Pitazo, a second woman, Yohana Rodríguez Sierra, 45, was killed, and her daughter wounded, in other strikes at a communications station at Cerro El Volcán. Multiple residential houses were also reportedly destroyed in the nearby area of La Boyera. The military operation in Caracas follows a series of attacks on alleged drug boats which have reportedly killed at least 114 in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Identifying the Munition Bellingcat has found videos showing the aftermath of the Catia La Mar attack and remnants of the munition filmed at the location. The strike destroyed some exterior walls of one apartment complex and caused extensive damage to at least two apartments. Left: Screenshot from a video showing the destroyed exterior walls of the apartment building. Source: LaTrIncHEra/Instagram. Right: Screenshot from a video filmed inside the apartment complex showing an extensive fragmentation pattern on a neighbouring building. Source: Carlos Marea/Instagram. Bellingcat geolocated the apartment complex to an area in Catia La Mar about 30 km north of Caracas (10.592796, -67.037721) and approximately 500 m east of a targeted air defence storage inside a military facility. Top: Panoramic composite showing the damaged building hit in the strike. Credit: Youri van der Weide/Bellingcat. Bottom: Location where the residential building was hit in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela. Source: Airbus/Google Earth. Screenshot showing what appears to be weapon system remnants found at the apartment complex that was struck. Source: Carlos Marea/Instagram. One video also reveals remnants of a munition. According to an analysis of visual evidence by Bellingcat, the remnants appear to show an AGM-88 series missile. Another remnant of the AGM-88 series missile appears in a video published by Euronews. This remnant is a BSU-60 tail fin, that according to an analyst note on the Open Source Munitions Portal (OSMP), is used exclusively with the AGM-88 series missile. The AGM-88 HARM/AARGM series are American-produced air-to-surface missiles that are designed to hit ground-based radar-emitting targets, such as air defence systems like the Buk-M2E used by Venezuela’s military, with several of them destroyed during the US military raid. “Venezuela does not operate the AGM-88 HARM. Its F-16 acquisition occurred in 1983, when the US wouldn’t release anti-radiation tech to the region,” Dr Andrei Serbin Pont, International Analyst and President of the Regional Coordinating Centre for Economic and Social Investigations, CRIES, told Bellingcat. Later Israeli upgrades added guided munitions/AAMs, not ARMs, he said.According to TheWarZone, Venezuela did not receive any precision air-to-surface munitions, such as the AGM-88 series missiles. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfer Database does not report any transfers of AGM-88 missiles to Venezuela.US Navy aircraft were photographed in the region with AGM-88E AARGM missiles in the weeks before the operation. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Caine, stated that jets of this type, designed to suppress and destroy air defences, took part in the operation. Left: US Navy E/A-18 equipped with an AGM-88E AARGM missile photographed in Puerto Rico on Dec. 15. Source: Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters. Right: US Navy Jet aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, equipped with an AGM-88E AARGM missile on Dec. 22. Source: Seaman Abigail Reyes/DVIDS. Air Defence Systems Targeted The US struck several air defence systems across Venezuela as part of the operation, with Buk-M2E launchers being destroyed at  La Guaira Port, and the Higuerote and La Carlota airbases. Satellite imagery from Vantor shows that the area near a BuK-M2E storage building at Fort Guaicaipuro was also struck, but no air defence systems can clearly be seen. Jan. 5, 2026 satellite imagery showing several damaged buildings at Fort Guaicaipuro. Satellite image ©2026 Vantor According to satellite imagery, Buk-M2E launchers appear to have been stored at the military base approximately 500m from the residential building that was hit. Aug. 19, 2025, Airbus Satellite imagery of the site showing vehicles outside the buildings, including two Buk-M2Es with missiles loaded. Source: Airbus via Google Earth. Jan. 6, 2026, satellite imagery showing several destroyed buildings and vehicles at Catia La Mar Air Defence Storage Buildings. Satellite image ©2026 Vantor Bellingcat was not able to determine what caused the missile to strike the apartment building or if Buk-2ME launchers at Catia La Mar or a different system were the intended target.  The AARGM variant is capable of having designated missile “impact zones” and “avoidance zones” programmed to determine where the missile can or can’t impact when used on missions, a feature added to “prevent collateral damage”. Bellingcat asked the US Department of Defense if any weapons used in the operation transmitted a weapons impact assessment or other data that indicated they hit an unintended or civilian location. They said that a Battle Damage Assessment is ongoing. Carlos Gonzales, Giancarlo Fiorella, Jake Godin, Trevor Ball and Youri van der Weide contributed to this report. Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so here. You can also subscribe to our Patreon channel here. Subscribe to our Newsletter and follow us on Twitter here and Mastodon here.

From the Presidential Security Battalion, the following died: Lieutenant Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto; honor guards Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon, and Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont; and Corporal Luis Enrry López Sánchez. Also killed were members of the so-called "Bravo Squadron" from the same battalion, including Lieutenant Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos and Sergeant Richard. Lee Rodríguez Bellorín, as well as members of the 3rd Custodial Battalion: Sergeants Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga and Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velásquez, honor guard Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo, and Military Academy students Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguished) and Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez. This group also includes bodyguard Juan Escalona, who was part of Maduro's security detail; First Lieutenant Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres of the Military Aviation, who was at the Tettra Network Teleport, located at the Communications Directorate of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela in Fort Tiuna; and another member of the FANB identified as Lenín Osorio Ramírez, son of Soraida Ramírez, president of the Autonomous Institute National Council for the Human Rights of Children and Adolescents (Idenna). Although their names are unknown, unofficial reports indicated that there were six other deaths in several of the bombed facilities: two at the General Command of the Bolivarian Militia, whose headquarters are 500 meters from the Mountain Barracks, where Hugo Chávez's remains are located; and two more victims at the Óscar Machado Zuloaga Caracas Airport in Valles del Tuy. One person died at the Admiral José María García Air Defense Missile Group and another at the Altos de Irapa Radar Station. The death of a woman (her daughter was injured) was also reported in the municipality of El Hatillo, south of the Venezuelan capital, in a house near the "El Volcán" mountain, where a series of transmission antennas are located. The woman was identified as Johanna Sierra. Likewise, the death of 78-year-old Rosa González was confirmed. She lived in block 12 on Prolongación Soublette in Catia La Mar, a housing complex adjacent to the area attacked on the Mamo Plateau, at the Venezuelan Navy's military installations. Read The New York Times reported that 40 people had died, according to an anonymous source in the Venezuelan government, but did not reveal the names of the victims. The bombings also left an undetermined number of injured, and possibly more dead. However, Venezuelan authorities have not provided any information about the victims. The attacks also left dozens wounded. According to a hospital report compiled by the Network of Doctors in Venezuela, as of 2:00 p.m. on January 3, 90 people had been admitted to various hospitals in the Capital District with injuries resulting from the bombings. The Dr. Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital received 60 injured people, and another 30 at the Fuerte Tiuna Military Hospital. The association also notes that several deaths have not yet been counted.

Del Batallón de Seguridad Presidencial murieron el teniente Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto; los guardias de honor Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon e Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont; además del cabo segundo Luis Enrry López Sánchez. También murieron miembros del llamado “Escuadrón Bravo” del mismo batallón, como el teniente Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos y el sargento segundo Richard. Lee Rodríguez Bellorín, así como efectivos del Batallón De Custodia número 3: las sargentas segundo Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga y Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velasquez, el guardia de honor Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo, así como los alumnos de la Academia Militar, Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguido) y Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez. A este grupo se suma el escolta Juan Escalona, quien formaba parte del anillo de seguridad de Maduro; además de la primera teniente de la Aviación Militar, Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres, quien estaba en el Telepuerto de la Red Tettra, ubicada en la Dirección de Comunicaciones de la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana de Venezuela en Fuerte Tiuna; y otro miembro de la FANB identificado como Lenín Osorio Ramírez, hijo de Soraida Ramírez, presidenta del Instituto Autónomo Consejo Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes (Idenna). Aunque no se conocen sus nombres, reportes extraoficiales indicaron que hubo otros 6 muertos en varias de las dependencias bombardeadas: 2 en la Comandancia General de la Milicia Bolivariana, cuya sede está a 500 metros del Cuartel de la Montaña, donde están los restos de Hugo Chávez; otras 2 víctimas en el Aeropuerto Caracas Óscar Machado Zuloaga, en Valles del Tuy; 1 persona fallecida en el Grupo Misilístico de Defensa Aérea Almirante José María García y 1 persona más en la Estación de Radar de Altos de Irapa. También se conoció de la muerte de una mujer (su hija resultó herida) en el municipio El Hatillo, al sur de la capital venezolana, en una casa en las inmediaciones de la montaña “El Volcán”, donde está una serie de antenas de transmisión. La mujer fue identificada como Johanna Sierra. Así mismo, se confirmó la muerte de Rosa González de 78 años de edad, quien vivía en el bloque 12 en la prolongación Soublette en Catia La Mar, un urbanismo aledaño a la zona atacada en la Meseta de Mamo, en las instalaciones militares de la Armada venezolana. Lee El diario The New York Times reportó que habían muerto 40 personas, según una fuente anónima del Gobierno de Venezuela, pero no reveló los nombres de las víctimas. Los bombardeos también dejaron un número indetermiado de heridos, y posiblemente más personas muertas. Sin embargo, las autoridades venezolanas no han suministrado información sobre las víctimas. Los ataques también dejaron decenas de heridos. Según un reporte de hospitales que realiza la Red de Médicos en Venezuela hasta las 14:00 horas del 3 de enero se había registrado el ingreso de 90 personas heridas a distintos hospitales del Distrito Capital, producto de los bombardeos. El Hospital Militar Dr. Carlos Arvelo recibió 60 lesionados y 30 más en el Hospitalito de Fuerte Tiuna. La asociación también advierte que varios fallecidos aún no han sido contabilizados.

As of January 5, 2026, the Monitor de Víctimas (Victims Monitor) and La Hora de Venezuela (The Hour of Venezuela) recorded 55 deaths during the United States attack on Caracas, Miranda, and La Guaira in the early hours of January 3, which resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Among the victims were 32 Cubans who “were carrying out missions representing the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of their counterparts in that country,” according to a statement issued by Havana authorities on January 4. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel decreed two days of mourning. Following this pronouncement, the Venezuelan Ministry of the Interior and Justice published a statement paying tribute to the Cuban combatants without mentioning the casualties within the National Armed Forces. Two days after the U.S. military incursion, authorities have not released the total number of military or civilian victims. Nor have they published any official statements or decrees of mourning on their official accounts. According to monitoring by Monitor de Víctimas, at least 22 of the 55 dead were Venezuelan military personnel. Rosa Helena González was one of the civilians who died in the early morning of January 3rd during the bombing in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state. A missile struck the building in the Rómulo Gallegos housing complex where she lived. She was about to turn 80 years old. “In the early morning, we heard the detonations, and the entire building shook with the explosions. We are separated from the Mamo Plateau (where the Marine Corps base is located, which was also bombed) by a mountain, and that's why we decided to evacuate the building. Most people had already left when the missile that hit the building exploded,” neighbor Jonathan Mayora told La Hora de Venezuela. The victim spent more than half her life in building 12 of the Rómulo Gallegos housing complex on Soublette Avenue in Catia La Mar, the most populated parish on Venezuela's central coast. Her neighbors remember her as a hardworking woman and a community member. “Mrs. Rosa hadn't come out. We went to help her. She was injured, but she told us to help her get out, that she was getting better. That wasn't the case. We took her straight to the small hospital (Dr. Alfredo Machado Hospital, located on the same avenue), but she didn't make it and died there,” added the witness, who also lost his home in the explosion. Rosa Helena's family told La Hora de Venezuela that the death certificate lists the cause of death as a myocardial infarction. Death in El Volcán The other woman who died was Yohanna Rodríguez Sierra, a 45-year-old Colombian woman born in Cartagena. Yohanna worked in a house located less than a kilometer from the transmission antennas that serve the military, television stations, and telecommunications companies in the El Volcán sector of Miranda state. She lived with her 22-year-old daughter, Ana Corina Morales, who was also injured. “Yohanna, whom we love dearly, decided to go out and see what was happening in El Volcán,” said a relative of the owners of the El Topito residence, which is connected internally to the sector where the repeater towers are located. “Her daughter asked her not to leave, but she insisted on going because she was determined to take pictures of what was happening,” the relative added. In El Volcán, there are at least six small houses where the antenna caretakers live. On the morning of the attack, only one worker was on duty because the rest had not yet returned from their New Year's holiday. Yohanna arrived at the site just as the second missile struck and was hit in the chest by projectiles that caused her death, according to her daughter's account to the relatives of the owners of the house she was looking after with her mother. Yohanna's daughter sustained minor injuries. She was treated at Dr. Domingo Luciani Hospital in El Llanito and later discharged. Four Soldiers Identified The identities of four more Venezuelan soldiers killed in the U.S. bombing of Fort Tiuna have been released: Sergeants Eliannys Camacho, 22, and Yorlianny Michel Delgado Suárez; Captain Moisés Sequera; and Eduardo Soto Libre, whose rank is currently unknown. These cases bring the total number of identified deaths from the attacks to 23. The names of the other officials killed in the attack, which were published on January 4, are: Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon, and Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont, who were part of the Honor Guard of the 6th Presidential Security Battalion; as well as Lieutenant Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto and Corporal Luis Enrry López Sánchez. Both belonged to the same unit. From Bravo Squadron, also attached to the Presidential Security Battalion, the victims are Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos and Richard Rodríguez Bellorín. The victims from the 3rd Custody Battalion are Sergeants Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga and Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velásquez, as well as Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo, a bodyguard. Two students from the Military Academy, Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguished) and Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez, are among the deceased. Also among the dead are First Lieutenant Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres of the Military Aviation, who was at the Tettra Network Teleport, located at the National Armed Forces Communications Directorate in Fort Tiuna; and Lenin Osorio Ramírez, son of Soraida Ramírez, president of the Autonomous Institute National Council for the Human Rights of Children and Adolescents (IDENNA). It was reported that there were 25 bodies at the Military Hospital. It is possible that some of these correspond to the 23 already mentioned or to the 32 Cubans. The two women lived in areas near the bombed locations. A compilation and verification effort by Venezuelan journalists allowed for the identification of 23 of the people killed in the US attacks.

Hasta el 5 de enero de 2026, Monitor de Víctimas y La Hora de Venezuela registran 55 muertos durante el ataque de Estados Unidos sobre Caracas, Miranda y La Guaira ocurrido la pasada madrugada del 3 de enero, que terminó con la captura de Nicolás Maduro y su esposa, Cilia Flores.  Entre las víctimas hay 32 cubanos que “cumplían misiones en representación de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias y el Ministerio del Interior, a solicitud de los órganos homólogos de ese país”, según un comunicado suscrito por las autoridades de La Habana el 4 de enero. El presidente de Cuba, Miguel Díaz Canel, decretó dos días de duelo. Tras este pronunciamiento, el Ministerio de Interior y Justicia de Venezuela publicó un comunicado para rendir homenaje a los combatientes cubanos sin hacer mención a las bajas de la Fuerza Armada Nacional. Dos días después de la incursión militar estadounidense, las autoridades no han dado a conocer el total de víctimas militares o civiles. Tampoco han divulgado en las cuentas oficiales notas o decretos de duelo. De acuerdo con el monitoreo realizado por Monitor de Víctimas, al menos 22 de las 55 muertos eran funcionarios militares venezolanos. Rosa Helena González es una de las civiles que murió la madrugada del 3 de enero durante el bombardeo en Catia La Mar, estado La Guaira. Un misil impactó el edificio de la urbanización Rómulo Gallegos, en donde residía. Estaba próxima a cumplir 80 años de edad.  “En la madrugada escuchamos las detonaciones y el bloque se estremeció por completo con las explosiones. A nosotros nos separa una montaña de la Meseta de Mamo (donde está ubicada la Infantería de Marina, que también fue bombardeada) y por eso decidimos evacuar el edificio. La mayoría había salido cuando el misil que impactó en el edificio explotó”, contó el vecino Jonathan Mayora a La Hora de Venezuela. La víctima pasó más de la mitad de su vida en el bloque 12 de la urbanización Rómulo Gallegos de la avenida Soublette de Catia La Mar, la parroquia más poblada del litoral central venezolano. Sus vecinos la recuerdan como una mujer trabajadora y colaboradora con la comunidad.  “La señora Rosa no había salido. Nosotros la fuimos a ayudar. Estaba golpeada, pero nos dijo que la ayudáramos a salir, que ella mejoraba. No fue así. La llevamos directo al hospitalito (el hospital Dr. Alfredo Machado, ubicado en la misma avenida), pero no aguantó y allí murió”, agrega el testigo que también perdió su vivienda por la explosión. La familia de Rosa Helena relató a La Hora de Venezuela que en el acta de defunción la causa de muerte indica que tuvo un infarto al miocardio. Muerte en El Volcán  La otra mujer fallecida es Yohanna Rodríguez Sierra, colombiana de 45 años de edad nacida en Cartagena. Yohanna trabajaba en una vivienda ubicada a menos de un kilómetro de donde funcionan las antenas de transmisión que sirven al sector militar, televisoras y empresas de telecomunicaciones en el sector El Volcán, estado Miranda.   Ella vivía con su hija Ana Corina Morales, de 22 años, quien también resultó herida. “Yohanna muy querida por nosotros, decidió salir a ver qué estaba pasando en El Volcán”, contó un familiar de los propietarios de la residencia El Topito, que se comunica internamente con el sector donde están ubicadas las torres repetidoras. “La hija le pidió que no se moviera, pero ella insistió en ir porque estaba decidida a tomar fotos de lo que estaba pasando”, agregó. En el Volcán hay al menos seis pequeñas casas, donde viven cuidadores de las antenas. La madrugada del ataque solo estaba un trabajador de guardia porque el resto no había regresado aún de los días libres por la fiesta de Año Nuevo. Yohanna llegó al sitio en el momento en que cayó el segundo misil y fue alcanzada por objetos en el pecho que le causaron la muerte, según relató la hija a los familiares de los dueños de la casa que cuidaba con su mamá. La hija de Yohanna tuvo heridas leves. Fue atendida en el Hospital Dr. Domingo Luciani de El Llanito y posteriormente dada de alta. Cuatro militares muertos identificados Se conocieron las identidades de otros cuatro militares venezolanos que murieron en el bombardeo de Estados Unidos en Fuerte Tiuna: las sargentas Eliannys Camacho, de 22 años de edad; y Yorlianny Michel Delgado Suárez; el capitán Moisés Sequera y Eduardo Soto Libre, cuyo rango se desconoce hasta el momento. Con estos casos suman 23 los muertos en los ataques que han sido identificados. Los nombres de los otros funcionarios muertos en el ataque y que se habían publicado el pasado 4 de enero son: Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon e Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont, quienes eran parte de la Guardia de Honor del Batallón de Seguridad Presidencial número 6; así como el teniente Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto y el cabo segundo Luis Enrry López Sánchez. Ambos pertenecían al mismo componente. Del Escuadrón Bravo, también adscrito al Batallón de Seguridad Presidencial, las víctimas son Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos y Richard Rodríguez Bellorín. Las víctimas del Batallón de Custodia número 3 son las sargentas Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga y Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velasquez, así como el guardia de Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo. Dos alumnos de la Academia Militar, Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguido) y Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez, están entre los fallecidos. Asimismo, se suma la primera teniente de la Aviación Militar, Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres, quien estaba en el Telepuerto de la Red Tettra, ubicada en la Dirección de Comunicaciones de la Fuerza Armada Nacional en Fuerte Tiuna; y Lenin Osorio Ramírez, hijo de Soraida Ramírez, presidenta del Instituto Autónomo Consejo Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes (IDENNA). Se conoció que en el hospital Militar había 25 cadáveres. Es posible que algunos correspondan a los 23 ya mencionados o a los 32 cubanos. Las dos mujeres vivían en zonas cercanas a los lugares que fueron bombardeados. Un trabajo de recopilación y verificación hecho por periodistas venezolanos permitió identificar a 23 de las personas muertas en los ataques de EE UU

Possible BUK missile launched from 393 GMDA at Catia La Mar during the US strikes on January 3rd. The missile is fired after the initial airstrikes on the base. #Venezuela

First on the ground look at the destruction at 393 GMDA at Catia La Mar. 5 BUK vehicles seen in this video All stored in unprotected shelters though some of these vehicles were non-operational. #Venezuela

By Monitor de Víctimas and La Hora de Venezuela, Caracas – As of January 5, Monitor de Víctimas and La Hora de Venezuela have tallied 55 deaths during the United States attack on Caracas, Miranda, and La Guaira in the early hours of January 3, which ended with the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Among the victims are 32 Cubans who “were carrying out missions representing the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of their counterparts in that country,” according to a statement issued by Havana authorities on January 4. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel decreed two days of mourning. Following this pronouncement, the Venezuelan Ministry of the Interior and Justice published a statement to pay tribute to the Cuban combatants without mentioning the casualties from the National Armed Forces. Two days after the US military incursion, authorities had not yet released the total number of military or civilian victims. Nor did they publish any statements or decrees of mourning on official accounts. The Venezuelan Army published the obituaries of 23 officials killed in the attack on January 6. According to monitoring by Monitor de Víctimas (Victims Monitor), at least 43 of the 77 victims were Venezuelan military personnel. See this post on Instagram. A post shared by the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Peace (@minjusticia_ve). Rosa Helena González is one of the civilians who died in the early morning of January 3 during the bombing in Catia La Mar. A missile struck the building in the Rómulo Gallegos housing complex where she lived. She was about to turn 80 years old. “In the early morning we heard the detonations and the entire building shook with the explosions. We are separated from the Mamo Plateau [where the Marine Corps base, which was also bombed, is located] by a mountain, and that's why we decided to evacuate the building. Most people had already left when the missile that hit the building exploded,” neighbor Jonathan Mayora told La Hora de Venezuela. The victim spent more than half her life in building 12 of the Rómulo Gallegos housing complex on Prolongación Soublette in Catia La Mar, the most populated parish on the central Venezuelan coast. Her neighbors remember her as a hardworking woman and a community member. “Mrs. Rosa hadn't come out. We went to help her. She was injured, but she told us to help her get out, that she would get better. That wasn't the case. We took her straight to the small hospital [Dr. Alfredo Machado Hospital, located in the same area], but she didn't make it and died there,” adds the witness who also lost his home in the explosion. Rosa Helena's family told ARI that the death certificate states the cause of death as a myocardial infarction. Death in El Volcán The other woman who died is Yohanna Rodríguez Sierra, 45 years old and a Colombian national. Yohanna worked in a house located less than a kilometer from the transmission antennas that serve the military, television stations, and telecommunications companies in the El Volcán sector of Miranda state. She lived with her 22-year-old daughter, Ana Corina Morales, who was also injured. “Yohanna, whom we loved very much, decided to go out and see what was happening in El Volcán,” said a relative of the owners of the El Topito residence, which is connected internally to the area where the repeater towers are located. “Her daughter asked her not to move, but she insisted on going because she was determined to take pictures of what was happening,” the relative added. In El Volcán, there are at least six small houses where the antenna caretakers live. On the morning of the attack, only one worker was on duty because the rest had not yet returned from their New Year's holiday. Yohanna arrived at the site just as the second missile hit and was struck in the chest by projectiles that caused her death, according to what her daughter told the relatives of the owners of the house she was looking after with her mother. Yohanna's daughter suffered minor injuries. She was treated at Dr. Domingo Luciani Hospital in El Llanito and later discharged. 26 Military Personnel Identified: The identities of 26 other Venezuelan military personnel who died in the US bombing of Fort Tiuna and other military installations such as Fort Guaicaipuro have been released: Sergeants Eliannys Camacho, 22 years old; and Yorlianny Michel Delgado Suárez; Captain Moisés Sequera; Eduardo Soto Libre and José Salvador Rodríguez Ramírez, whose ranks are currently unknown. Among the fatalities are also First Sergeants Pedro Miguel González Escala, Jesús Martínez Morantes, Bayan Núñez León, Adrián Alejandro Robles, Pedro Carrillo Paiva, César Augusto García Palma and Yoicar José Brito Prepo; Second Sergeants Ángel Eduardo Vivas Montilva, Crisbel Adriana Gómez Gómez, José Vera Rangel, Ramón Martínez Ramón and Fabián Enrique Estevez. Also among the dead are Second Sergeant Major Nervis José Toro Peroza; Third Sergeant Major Andrés Eloy Marín Valladares; soldiers Yechezkel Lafore Monges and José Rafael Suárez Rodríguez; and cadets Víctor Hernández Palma, Pablo García García, Yoel García García, Carlos Mata Muñoz, and Pedro Garrido Cabello. With these additions, the number of Venezuelan military personnel killed in the attacks who have been identified rises to 43. Of the total victims, the ages of only six are known: they ranged from 19 to 37 years old. The names of the other officers who died in the attack, which were published on January 4, are: Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon, and Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont, who were part of the Honor Guard of the 6th Presidential Security Battalion. as well as Lieutenant Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto and Corporal Luis Enrry López Sánchez. Both belonged to the same unit. From the Bravo Squadron, also attached to the Presidential Security Battalion, the victims are Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos and Richard Rodríguez Bellorín. The victims from the 3rd Custody Battalion are Sergeants Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga and Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velasquez, as well as the guard of Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo. Two students from the Military Academy, Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguished) and Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez, are among the deceased. Also included is First Lieutenant of the Military Aviation, Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres, who was at the Tettra Network Teleport, located in the Communications Directorate of the National Armed Forces at Fort Tiuna; and Lenin Osorio Ramírez, son of Soraida Ramírez, president of the Autonomous Institute National Council for the Human Rights of Children and Adolescents (IDENNA). It was learned that there were 25 bodies at the Military Hospital. It is possible that some correspond to the 43 military personnel already mentioned or to the 32 Cubans. Cuba reveals the names of the deceased. The Cuban newspaper Granma published on January 6 the names, ranks, and photographs of the 12 officials from the Ministry of the Interior and 20 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of that country who died in the capture of Maduro and Flores. Among the Cubans are two colonels assigned to the Ministry of the Interior, Humberto Alfonso Roca Sánchez, 67; and Lázaro Evangelio Rodríguez Rodríguez, 62; Lieutenant Colonel Orlando Osoria López, 45. In addition, there are four majors identified as Rodney Izquierdo Valdés, 51; Ismael Terrero, 47; Rubiel Díaz Cabrera, 53; and Hernán González Perera, 43. There are also three captains: Bismar Mora Aponta, 50; Yoel Pérez Tabares, 48; and Addriel Adrián Socartas Tamayo, 32; and two first lieutenants: Yorlenis Revé Cuza, 36; and Alejandro Rodríguez Royo, 35. The Cubans who belonged to that country's armed forces were Erdwin Rosabal Avalos, Daniel Torralba Díaz, Yandrys González Vega, Yordanys Marionis Núñez, Yunior Estévez Samon, Yasmani Domínguez Cardero, Fernando Antonio Báez Hidalgo, Yoandys Rojas Pérez, Giorki Verdecia García, Adrián Pérez Beades, Suriel Godales Alarcón, Adelkis Ayala Almenares, Alexander Noda Gutiérrez, Ervis Martínez Herrera, Juan Carlos Guerrero Cisneros, Juan David Vargas Vaillant, Rafael Enrique Moreno Font, Luis Alberto Hidalgo Canals, Luis Manuel Jardines Castro, and Sandy Amita López. Among the deceased were nine soldiers, five first lieutenants, three lieutenants, one captain, one first warrant officer, and one master warrant officer. They were between 26 and 59 years old.

Por Monitor de Víctimas y La Hora de VenezuelaCaracas.- Hasta el 5 de enero, Monitor de Víctimas y La Hora de Venezuela contabilizan 55 fallecidos durante el ataque de Estados Unidos sobre Caracas, Miranda y La Guaira, la madrugada del 3, que terminó con la captura de Nicolás Maduro y su esposa, Cilia Flores.Entre las víctimas hay 32 cubanos que “cumplían misiones en representación de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias y el Ministerio del Interior, a solicitud de los órganos homólogos de ese país”, según un comunicado suscrito por las autoridades de La Habana el 4 de enero.El presidente de Cuba, Miguel Díaz Canel, decretó dos días de duelo. Tras este pronunciamiento, el Ministerio de Interior y Justicia de Venezuela publicó un comunicado para rendir homenaje a los combatientes cubanos sin hacer mención a las bajas de la Fuerza Armada Nacional.Dos días después de la incursión militar estadounidense, las autoridades no habían dado a conocer el total de víctimas militares o civiles. Tampoco divulgaron en las cuentas oficiales notas o decretos de duelo. El Ejército de Venezuela publicó los obituarios de 23 funcionarios muertos en el ataque el 6  de enero.De acuerdo con el monitoreo realizado por Monitor de Víctimas, al menos 43 de las 77 víctimas eran funcionarios militares venezolanos.Ver esta publicación en InstagramUna publicación compartida por Ministerio Relaciones Interiores, Justicia y Paz (@minjusticia_ve)Rosa Helena González es una de las civiles que murió la madrugada del 3 de enero durante el bombardeo en Catia La Mar. Un misil impactó el edificio de la urbanización Rómulo Gallegos, en donde residía. Estaba próxima a cumplir 80 años de edad.“En la madrugada escuchamos las detonaciones y el bloque se estremeció por completo con las explosiones. A nosotros nos separa una montaña de la Meseta de Mamo [donde está ubicada la Infantería de Marina que también fue bombardeada] y por eso decidimos evacuar el edificio. La mayoría había salido cuando el misil que impactó en el edificio explotó”, contó el vecino Jonathan Mayora a La Hora de Venezuela.La víctima pasó más de la mitad de su vida en el bloque 12 de la urbanización Rómulo Gallegos de la Prolongación Soublette de Catia La Mar, la parroquia más poblada del litoral central venezolano. Sus vecinos la recuerdan como una mujer trabajadora y colaboradora con la comunidad.“La señora Rosa no había salido. Nosotros la fuimos a ayudar. Estaba golpeada, pero nos dijo que la ayudáramos a salir, que ella mejoraba. No fue así. La llevamos directo al hospitalito [el hospital Dr. Alfredo Machado, ubicado en la misma zona], pero no aguantó y allí murió”, agrega el testigo que también perdió su vivienda por la explosión.La familia de Rosa Helena relató a ARI que en el acta de defunción la causa de muerte indica que tuvo un infarto al miocardio.Muerte en El VolcánLa otra mujer fallecida es Yohanna Rodríguez Sierra, de 45 años de edad y de nacionalidad colombiana.Yohanna trabajaba en una vivienda ubicada a menos de un kilómetro de donde funcionan las antenas de transmisión que sirven al sector militar, televisoras y empresas de telecomunicaciones en el sector El Volcán, estado Miranda.Ella vivía con su hija Ana Corina Morales, de 22 años, quien también resultó herida. “Yohanna muy querida por nosotros, decidió salir a ver qué estaba pasando en El Volcán”, contó un familiar de los propietarios de la residencia El Topito, que se comunica internamente con el sector donde están ubicadas las torres repetidoras.“La hija le pidió que no se moviera, pero ella insistió en ir porque estaba decidida a tomar fotos de lo que estaba pasando”, agregó.En el Volcán hay al menos seis pequeñas casas, donde viven cuidadores de las antenas. La madrugada del ataque solo estaba un trabajador de guardia porque el resto no había regresado aún de los días libres por la fiesta de Año Nuevo.Yohanna llegó al sitio en el momento en que cayó el segundo misil y fue alcanzada por objetos en el pecho que le causaron la muerte, según relató la hija a los familiares de los dueños de la casa que cuidaba con su mamá.La hija de Yohanna tuvo heridas leves. Fue atendida en el Hospital Dr. Domingo Luciani de El Llanito y posteriormente dada de alta.26 militares identificadosSe conoció las identidades de otros 26 militares venezolanos que murieron en el bombardeo de Estados Unidos en Fuerte Tiuna y otras instalaciones militares como el Fuerte Guaicaipuro: las sargentas Eliannys Camacho, de 22 años de edad; y Yorlianny Michel Delgado Suárez; el capitán Moisés Sequera; Eduardo Soto Libre y José Salvador Rodríguez Ramírez, cuyos rangos se desconocen hasta el momento. Entre las víctimas letales también están los sargentos primeros Pedro Miguel González Escala, Jesús Martínez Morantes, Bayan Núñez León, Adrián Alejandro Robles, Pedro Carrillo Paiva, César Augusto García Palma y Yoicar José Brito Prepo; los sargentos segundos Ángel Eduardo Vivas Montilva,Crisbel Adriana Gómez Gómez, José Vera Rangel, Ramón Martínez Ramón y Fabián Enrique Estevez. Además está el sargento mayor de segunda Nervis José Toro Peroza; el sargento mayor de tercera Andrés Eloy Marín Valladares; los soldados Yechezkel Lafore Monges y José Rafael Suárez Rodrígues y los alumnos Víctor Hernández Palma, Pablo García García, Yoel García García, Carlos Mata Muñoz y Pedro Garrido Cabello.Con estos casos son 43 los militares venezolanos muertos en los ataques que han sido identificados. Del total de víctimas se conocen edades de sólo seis: tenían entre 19 y 37 años.Los nombres de los otros funcionarios que fallecieron en el ataque y que se habían publicado el pasado 4 de enero son: Jeampier Josue Parra Parra, Franyerson Javier Hurtado Ortuño, José Ángel Ilarraza González, Jerry Antonio Aguilera Velásquez, Franco Abrahan Contreras Tochon e Isaac Enrique Tovar Lamont, quienes eran parte de la Guardia de Honor del Batallón de Seguridad Presidencial número 6; así como el teniente Yendis Cristofer Gregorio Barreto y el cabo segundo Luis Enrry López Sánchez. Ambos pertenecían al mismo componente.Del Escuadrón Bravo, también adscrito al Batallón de Seguridad Presidencial, las víctimas son Lerwis Geovanny Rivero Chirinos y Richard Rodríguez Bellorín. Las víctimas del Batallón de Custodia número 3 son las sargentas Anaís Katherine Molina Goenaga y Alejandra Del Valle Oliveros Velasquez, así como el guardia de Carlos Julio Quiñónez Perozo.Dos alumnos de la Academia Militar, Jhonatan Alexander Cordero Moreno (distinguido) y Saúl Abrahan Pereira Martínez, están entre los fallecidos.Asimismo, se suma la primera teniente de la Aviación Militar, Deimar Elizabeth Páez Torres, quien estaba en el Telepuerto de la Red Tettra, ubicada en la Dirección de Comunicaciones de la Fuerza Armada Nacional en Fuerte Tiuna; y Lenin Osorio Ramírez, hijo de Soraida Ramírez, presidenta del Instituto Autónomo Consejo Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes (IDENNA).Se conoció que en el hospital Militar había 25 cadáveres. Es posible que algunos correspondan a los 43 militares ya mencionados o a los 32 cubanos. Cuba revela nombres de los fallecidosEl diario cubano Granma publicó este seis de enero los nombres, rangos y fotografías de los 12 funcionarios del Ministerio de Interior y 20 miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de ese país que murieron en la captura de Maduro y Flores.Entre los cubanos destacan dos coroneles adscritos al Ministerio de Interior, Humberto Alfonso Roca Sánchez, de 67 años; y Lázaro Evangelio Rodríguez Rodríguez, de 62 años;  el teniente coronel Orlando Osoria López, de 45. Además hay cuatro mayores identificados como Rodney Izquierdo Valdés, de 51 años; Ismael Terrero, de 47; Rubiel Díaz Cabrera, de 53; y Hernán González Perera, de 43. Asimismo, hay tres capitanes: Bismar Mora Aponta, de 50 años; Yoel Pérez Tabares, de 48; y Addriel Adrián Socartas Tamayo, de 32; y dos primeros tenientes: Yorlenis Revé Cuza, de 36;  y Alejandro Rodríguez Royo, de 35.Los cubanos que pertenecían a las fuerzas armadas de ese país eran Erdwin Rosabal Avalos, Daniel Torralba Díaz, Yandrys González Vega, Yordanys Marionis Núñez, Yunior Estévez Samon, Yasmani Domínguez Cardero, Fernando Antonio Báez Hidalgo, Yoandys Rojas Pérez, Giorki Verdecia García, Adrián Pérez Beades, Suriel Godales Alarcón, Adelkis Ayala Almenares, Alexander Noda Gutiérrez, Ervis Martínez Herrera, Juan Carlos Guerrero Cisneros, Juan David Vargas Vaillant, Rafael Enrique Moreno Font, Luis Alberto Hidalgo Canals, Luis Manuel Jardines Castro y Sandy Amita López. Entre los fallecidos hay nueve soldados, cinco primeros tenientes, tres tenientes, un capitán, un primer suboficial y un suboficial mayor. Tenían entre 26 y 59 años de edad.

destinoideal 3dHomes affected after what happened.

destinoideal 3dViviendas afectadas después de lo sucedido.

la._trinchera Edited•4d🚨 Videos of one of the residential buildings hit by the bombing 🚨 Those who claimed to care about the people of Venezuela fired without caring who the bombs hit.

la._trinchera Edited•4d🚨 Videos de uno de los edificios residenciales alcanzados por el bombardeo 🚨 A quienes decían preocuparse por el pueblo de Venezuela, dispararon sin importar a quién cayeran las bombas.

In the stillness of the early morning, specifically at 2:30 a.m. this Saturday, January 3, the roar of at least two consecutive explosions shattered the sleep and peace of the La Soublette sector in the Catia La Mar parish, La Guaira state. What survivors describe as a “missile” or an “unexploded ordnance” struck multi-family buildings, transforming in minutes a neighborhood of family life into a disaster zone with collapsed walls, broken roofs, and shattered lives. The preliminary toll of the air offensive perpetrated by the United States government against Venezuela is one person dead, one seriously injured, and eight with minor injuries. The scars of the impacts are deep on the facades and structures, revealing the magnitude of an aggression that has struck directly at the heart of this community. “A flash, a powerful explosion”: the tale of horror. Wilman González, a survivor of the first impact, recounts with stark realism the seconds that changed everything. “When I went to lie down on the couch to watch TikTok, the thing exploded, a huge blast… the impact threw me against the wall.” The force of the explosion propelled him, as well as his sister and brother. Tragedy struck his family: his sister, 80-year-old Rosa González, died from the impact. “Not here, she died down there in the small hospital… she died from the explosion,” recounts Wilman, pointing to the remains of the device. “When they saw the missile's remains, it looked like a gas cylinder, but it wasn't a gas cylinder, it was a device.” As he gathers the pieces of what was once his home, acquired by his parents in 1969, he expresses a helplessness mixed with despair: “Now who will help us find a place to live… it's not easy.” Two impacts, a family trapped in the middle. Just a few meters away, Jesús Linares (48 years old) experienced a similar nightmare. The first buzzing sound and impact jolted him out of bed. “They’re invading us,” was her first thought. As she ran with her daughter toward her mother’s room, a second, more powerful explosion shook the front of the apartment. “I was thrown… I fell to the floor, I felt something hit my head,” she says, showing a minor wound. In the darkness and dust, bleeding profusely, her priority was to calm her daughter and mother and seek refuge in a closet, fearing another attack. “I don’t know if another thing is coming, another missile,” she explains about the anguish of those endless minutes until she heard the neighbors and rescued her family. Vulnerability has a name: Tibisay Suárez. Among the most vulnerable victims is Tibisay Suárez, an 82-year-old woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, who now faces a double tragedy. Hospitalized at the Pariata Peripheral Hospital with injuries, trauma, and burns on her legs and arms from the explosion, she doesn’t remember what happened. Her only son lives in Germany, so she has no immediate family to help her. Only her neighbors look after her, while reality sets in; in addition to her injuries, she has been left homeless. A landscape of destruction and unanswered questions. The La Soublette sector today stands as a silent testament to destruction. The remains of furniture, appliances, and household goods are mixed with concrete and dust. According to Wilman González, the authorities took away “the largest part” of the missile wreckage. The community asks, with disbelief and anger, why the need for a foreign warmongering attack against Venezuelans? These are questions that remain unanswered, leaving them in uncertainty, traumatized, and devastated by the loss of their homes, the places that sheltered most of them for over 40 years. The need for answers and official aid for the reconstruction of lives and homes is the unanimous cry amidst the rubble.

En la quietud de la madrugada, específicamente a las 2:30 am de este sábado 3 de enero, el estruendo de al menos dos explosiones consecutivas rompió el sueño y la paz del sector La Soublette, en la parroquia Catia La Mar, estado La Guaira. Lo que los sobrevivientes describen como un “misil” o un “artefacto” impactó contra edificaciones multifamiliares, transformando en minutos un área de convivencia familiar en una zona de desastre con paredes desplomadas, techos colapsados y vidas destrozadas.El balance preliminar de la ofensiva aérea perpetrado por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos contra Venezuela, es de una persona fallecida, una herida de gravedad y ocho lesionados leves. Las cicatrices de los impactos son profundas en las fachadas y estructuras, dejando al descubierto la magnitud de una agresión que ha golpeado directamente el corazón de esta comunidad.“Un candelazo, un explosión bravo”: el relato del horrorWilman González, sobreviviente del primer impacto, narra con crudeza los segundos que cambiaron todo. “Cuando me voy a recostar en el mueble, a ver TikTok, explotó la cuestión, un candelazo… el impacto me lanzó contra la pared”. La fuerza de la explosión lo proyectó, al igual que a su hermana y su hermano. La tragedia se ensañó con su familia: su hermana, Rosa González de 80 años, falleció producto del impacto. “No aquí, ella fallece allá abajo en el hospitalito… fallece producto de la explosión”, relata Wilman, quien señala los restos del artefacto. “Cuando vieron los restos del misil, era como una bombona, pero no era una bombona, era un artefacto”.Mientras recoge los pedazos de lo que fue su hogar, adquirido por sus padres en 1969, expresa una impotencia que se mezcla con la desesperación: “Ahora quién nos ayuda a nosotros a buscar una vivienda… no es fácil”.Dos impactos, una familia atrapada en medioA escasos metros, Jesús Linares (48 años) vivió una pesadilla similar. El primer zumbido e impacto lo sacó de la cama. “Nos están invadiendo”, fue lo primero que pensó. Al correr con su hija hacia la habitación de su madre, un segundo y más potente estruendo sacudió el frente del apartamento. “Salí proyectado… caí en el suelo, sentí que me golpeó algo en la cabeza”, cuenta, mostrando una herida leve. En medio de la oscuridad y el polvo, con una hemorragia, su prioridad fue calmar a su hija y a su madre y buscar refugio en un clóset, temiendo un nuevo ataque. “No sé si viene tra cuestión, otro misil”, explica sobre la angustia de esos minutos interminables hasta escuchar a los vecinos y rescatar a su familia.La vulnerabilidad tiene nombre: Tibisay SuárezEntre los afectados más vulnerables está Tibisay Suárez, una mujer de 82 años diagnosticada con alzheimer, quien ahora enfrenta una doble tragedia. Hospitalizada en el Periférico de Pariata con heridas, traumatismos y quemaduras en piernas y brazos, producto de la explosión, no recuerda lo sucedido. Su único hijo vive en Alemania, por lo que no tiene familiares directos que la auxilien. Solo sus vecinos velan por ella, mientras la realidad se impone; además de sus lesiones, se ha quedado sin hogar.Un paisaje de destrucción y preguntas sin respuestaEl sector La Soublette hoy es un testimonio mudo de la destrucción. Los restos de muebles, electrodomésticos y enseres domésticos se mezclan con el concreto y el polvo.Las autoridades, según Wilman González, se llevaron “la parte más grande” de los restos del misil. La comunidad se pregunta, con incredulidad y rabia, ¿por qué de la necesidad de un ataque guerrerista extranjero contra los venezolanos?. Son preguntas que hoy no consiguen respuestas, que los mantienen en incertidumbre, traumatizado y devastados por haber perdido su vivienda, su hogar que cobijó a la mayoría por más de 40 años. La necesidad de respuestas y ayuda oficial para la reconstrucción de vidas y viviendas es el clamor unánime entre los escombros.

It happened in Catia La Mar, in La Guaira in the morning of this Saturday, January 3, specifically in the Soublette Urbanization. His house, as well as other neighboring apartments, were affected. Her name is llama Tibisay Suárez. She's 87 years old. She was wounded en the building that was attacked by the United States where a woman died.

Pasó en Catia La Mar, en La Guaira la madrugada de este sábado 3 de enero, específicamente en la Urbanización Soublette. Su casa, así como otros apartamentos vecinos quedaron afectados. Se llama Tibisay Suárez. Tiene 87 años. Fue herida en el edificio que atacó EEUU donde murió una señora.

In the early morning of January 3, Tibisay Suárez was sleeping peacefully in her bed when a missile struck her building in the Soublette residential complex in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, half a kilometer from the Mamo naval base. The detonation, the shockwave, and the shrapnel left her in critical condition, with 500 stitches in her head, fractures in both legs, and a broken arm. Her friend and neighbor, Rosaelena González, was not so lucky: she died instantly. She was murdered by the Americans, with their missiles that kill civilians and soldiers alike, Chavistas and opposition members alike. From Ceiba, we stand in solidarity and send our love to their families and the entire community of Catia La Mar, and to all of Venezuela, which still mourns the more than one hundred murdered by Yankee imperialism in this fascist offensive in which this sister nation is only the first to be attacked, because the gringos are coming against all the peoples of the Latin American and Caribbean region. #Venezuela #LatinAmerica #Caribbean #Life #Love #Justice #Freedom

En la madrugada del 3 de enero, Tibisay Suárez dormía plácidamente en su cama cuando un misil impactó en su edificio, en la urbanización Soublette de Catia La Mar, en el estado La Guaira, a medio kilómetro de la base naval de Mamo. La detonación, la onda expansiva y las esquirlas la dejaron en estado crítico de salud, con 500 puntos en la cabeza, fracturas en ambas piernas y en un brazo. Su amiga y vecina Rosaelena González no corrió con la misma "suerte": falleció en el acto. La asesinaron los gringos, con sus misiles que matan tanto a civiles como a militares, a chavistas y a opositores. Desde Ceiba nos solidarizamos y enviamos nuestros cariños a sus familias y a toda la comunidad de Catia La Mar, a toda Venezuela que aún llora a más de un centenar de asesinados por el imperialismo yanqui, en esta ofensiva fascista en la que esta nación hermana es sólo la primera agredida, porque los gringos vienen contra todos los pueblos de la región latinocaribeña. #Venezuela #Latinoamerica #Caribe #Vida #Amor #Justicia #Libertad

[1/20]Carlos Bracho, a transmission operator, and his sister Erika Utera salvages belongings from the rubble after a U.S. airstrike destroyed a TV and telephone tower that collapsed onto his home, killing a neighbor and injuring her daughter in the same attack, according to Bracho, in El Hatillo, on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. January 4. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabEL HATILLO, VENEZUELA[2/20]Employees stand near rubble and a dish antenna with holes after a U.S. airstrike destroyed a TV and telephone tower that collapsed onto transmission operator Carlos Bracho’s home, killing a neighbor and injuring her daughter in the same attack, according to Bracho, in El Hatillo, on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. January 4. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabEL HATILLO, VENEZUELA[4/20]Wilman Gonzalez looks on at his apartment that was damaged in a missile strike in which his aunt, Rosa Elena, was fatally injured, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[6/20]Employees stand near rubble after a U.S. airstrike destroyed a TV and telephone tower that collapsed onto Carlos Bracho home, killing a neighbor and injuring her daughter in the same attack, according to Bracho, in El Hatillo, on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. January 4. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabEL HATILLO, VENEZUELA[7/20]Wilman Gonzalez and a family member look for personal belongings through the rubble in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[8/20]People carry personal belongings at a damaged building, following U.S. strikes, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[9/20]Gustavo Villamizar helps his friend, Jesus Linares (not pictured), look for personal belongings through the rubble of a damaged building following U.S. strikes, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[10/20]Jesus Linares, 48, stands next to a local resident as he looks at his damaged apartment building, after the U.S. launched a strike on Venezuela, capturing its President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela January 4, 2026. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[12/20]Jesus Linares, 48, and his work partner Reggie Carrera carry a painting depicting South American independence leader Simon Bolivar at his damaged apartment in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[14/20]Cesar Diaz reacts as he stands in his mother Tibisay Suarez's apartment amid the rubble of a damaged building in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[16/20]Jesus Linares, 48, and his work partner Reggie Carrera stand at his damaged apartment in Catia La Mar, Venezuela January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[17/20]The cracked windows of a residential building are cracked, after the U.S. launched a strike on Venezuela, in Caracas, January 4. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCaracas, VENEZUELA[18/20]Jorge Cardona carries a painting through the rubble of a damaged building in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, January 4. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabCatia La Mar, VENEZUELA[20/20]Maikel Linares, nephew of Carlos Bracho, salvages belongings from the rubble after a U.S. airstrike destroyed a TV and telephone tower that collapsed onto his home, killing a neighbor and injuring her daughter in the same attack, according to resident Carlos Bracho, in El Hatillo, on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. January 4. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabEL HATILLO, VENEZUELANext Up

Back in Venezuela, neighbors and friends helped clear the debris from homes damaged in the strikes. One building, residents said, was inhabited mostly by older people, like Tibisay Suárez, who is in her 80s. Her neighbor, Jesús Linares, said he found her lying unconscious among the collapsed walls and shattered glass of her apartment. Her head was bleeding, Mr. Linares said, and he thought she was dead. Using a bedsheet, he fashioned an improvised bandage to stem the bleeding. She survived, he said.

To many on the ground, civilian fatalities were simply the cost of ousting Nicolás Maduro.An apartment complex in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, that was hit by U.S. air strikes, resulting in the death of Rosa González.Photographs from NYT / ReduxIt was the second night of the year, and Rosa González was watching her favorite television show, “La Ruleta de la Suerte.” Onscreen, contestants raced to solve word puzzles, spinning the wheel of fortune and following clues about Christmas carols. After a while, Rosa told her niece Griselda that she was going to bed, but she quickly came back, unable to rest without knowing the end. At eighty years old, mind games helped her stay sharp.Rosa had spent most of her life in Catia La Mar, a small port city on Venezuela’s central coast. Her house by the water had been where family and friends gathered to celebrate baptisms and weddings. During the pandemic, Rosa’s memory had started to fade, so Griselda and her siblings had brought her to an apartment that they shared nearby. Griselda, a preschool teacher, slept in one room, her brothers Wilman and Wilfredo in another. Rosa slept on a pullout bed in a room with Jimmy, Griselda’s nineteen-year-old son. The constant company seemed to erase all traces of her dementia, Griselda told me. Rosa went everywhere with the family and insisted on helping her as she swept the floors and washed the dishes.After the show ended, Rosa wished her niece good night. Griselda stayed up later, scrolling on her phone. “Two minutes after I finally lay down, I felt a missile coming toward us,” she told me. “I don’t know how, I just sensed it.” She rushed into the hallway and watched as the projectile, which had pierced through the bathroom wall, landed in Rosa and Jimmy’s room, erupting in flames. The blast sent Griselda flying into the living room, where she crashed amid the rubble. Ears ringing, she scanned the dark for her son and found him standing on the bed. “I could only see his red eyes,” she said. “He was covered in dust, head to toe.” Jimmy was crying for her: “Mamá, ayúdame, ayúdame.”Griselda tried to keep him from panicking. “Mom, why did this happen to us?” Jimmy kept asking. Meanwhile, Wilman and Wilfredo were trying to help Rosa, who was lying on the floor, crushed by a washing machine. They managed to free her and hoist her onto a chair. The old woman was having trouble breathing. Still, she tried to calm Jimmy. “Don’t worry, mijo,” Griselda heard her say. “We’ll make it out of this one.”The brothers brought Rosa to a medical clinic down the street. Meanwhile, Griselda and Jimmy sought refuge at an open lot behind the apartment building, where some neighbors were gathering. Eight of the structure’s sixteen apartments had been destroyed, their side walls blown up. “Is anyone alive?” the neighbors shouted.Their voices reached the closet where Jesús Linares, a firefighter, was hiding with his sixteen-year-old daughter Yoliangel and his eighty-five-year-old mother, Jesucita. The explosion had shattered the windows of their apartment, one floor above Griselda’s, and covered them in shards of glass. Blood flowed from a cut above Jesús’s left eye, and his mother had small wounds throughout her body. Once Jesús recognized his neighbors were calling, he ventured into the remnants of the apartment, telling his daughter to follow. Seeing the night sky where there used to be walls, Yoliangel started screaming. “Hija, you are fortitude,” Jesús said to assure her.The remains of the firefighter Jesús Linares’s apartment after the U.S. air strikes.As Yoliangel guided her grandmother down the stairs of the building, Jesús went to check on Tibisay Suárez, an eighty-year-old woman who lived next door. Tibisay had Alzheimer’s and no family in town, so the neighbors took turns caring for her. When Jesús entered the apartment, he found her sitting in a pool of blood. “There was a gash across her forehead, temple to temple, down to the skull,” he told me. He tore an old bedsheet to dress Tibisay’s wounds and put on her shoes, so she would not cut her feet.Other neighbors brought Tibisay to the clinic where Rosa was being treated, while Jesús and his family fled to a relative’s house, near a Venezuelan Navy base. Sitting in the dark, they were rattled by another wave of explosions. The base, less than a mile from the apartments, appears to have been the real target of the U.S. attacks in Catia La Mar. “What we wanted, more than anything, was for the sun to rise,” Jesús said.Griselda and Jimmy, still in the parking lot, decided to seek refuge at the clinic. They had been there for less than half an hour when doctors came out to deliver the news: Rosa was dead.Catia La Mar is separated from Caracas by mountains more than nine thousand feet tall, but residents of the capital had a similarly long night. American aircraft bombed multiple locations around the city, including airports, military bases, and transmission towers. After the last bomb dropped, the valley fell silent. Then, at 5:21 A.M., Donald Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured, and some neighborhoods of Caracas broke out in cheers.Later that day, I texted a friend in the city to ask about casualties. “I’m going to be very honest with you,” she said. “No one here is talking about the dead.” There were more pressing matters, such as fixing broken windows and stocking up on nonperishables. And though the evening had been frightening and the present was uncertain, many Venezuelans felt relieved: the person most responsible for the country’s descent into misery and despotism was gone, and would finally face justice; the regime that had governed the country for twenty-seven years was beginning to crack. If there were victims, they were probably complicit, and in any case, there was always a price to pay.Hours after the attacks, the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, stated that the Venezuelan government was gathering information about the victims, but whatever it found did not become public. Trump ended up being the first leader to disclose casualties, telling reporters that Maduro had been guarded by Cuban agents, many of whom had been killed by U.S. forces. By that afternoon, reports had begun to circulate that there were dozens of new patients in Caracas’s military hospitals.The following day, Padrino López conceded that much of Maduro’s defense team had died, without offering details. A government document listing fifteen fatalities in the battalion that guarded the President was leaked to local journalists, who also reported an additional ten deaths. Among them was one civilian victim, still unnamed.By then, reports of Cuban officers killed in Caracas had begun to circulate on the island. On social media, residents of Río Cauto mourned Fernando Báez Hidalgo, a young lieutenant whose passing was described as “a pain that multiplies itself.” Unable to limit the spread of information, the Cuban President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, announced that thirty-two members of the country’s armed forces and its Interior Ministry had died during the U.S. attack. Later that night, Venezuela’s acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, shared her condolences.Stephen Miller, the U.S. homeland-security adviser, boasted about the Cubans’ deaths during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper the next day. “What our Special Forces encountered when they did that daring midnight assault into Caracas were armed Cuban guards, and they sustained massive numbers of casualties,” he said. When Tapper asked about civilian deaths, Miller claimed that there had not been any: “Every single kill was an enemy kill.” A Pentagon official later told The New Yorker that the U.S. strikes had been “precisely planned to achieve operational objectives” and that civilians had not been “intentionally targeted.”By the time Miller went on CNN, Venezuelan journalists had identified two civilian victims: Rosa González and Johana Rodríguez Sierra. Originally from a town near Cartagena, in neighboring Colombia, Johana had spent most of her life in Caracas. For decades, she had looked after a wealthy family’s estate in the mountains south of the city, where she lived with her daughter Ana Corina. Just up the hill was a group of telecommunication antennas, some of which are believed to belong to the Venezuelan military. Their caretaker, Carlos Bracho, lived in a small yellow house on site and had been there for even longer than Johana.The towers were one of the first targets attacked by the U.S. on January 3rd. Around two in the morning, there was an explosion, followed by the sound of an antenna crashing down. Johana and Ana Corina were awakened by the blast, a cousin told the Colombian newspaper El Universal. Johana, wanting to know what had happened, decided to head for the towers, and Ana Corina followed her. As they drew close, a second bomb fell, toppling another antenna, which landed squarely on the yellow house. Carlos’s nephew, who was there that night, told the Times that he saw shell fragments hit Johana across her chest. Ana Corina was also wounded, but she managed to call the cousin. “They are killing us!” the cousin heard her cry.Carlos helped bring the woman to the nearest clinic, someone close to all of them said. Johana, bleeding profusely, died in transit. “On the one hand, I thank God that Carlos is alive,” the person told me. “On the other, I ask God why he took Johana.”Missiles also hit the residential neighborhood of La Boyera, down the mountain from the transmission towers. One fell in seventy-four-year-old Arturo Berti’s garden, next to the town house that he shares with his wife and sister, who are also in their seventies. A security camera captured the bomb as it exploded, setting the surrounding trees on fire and splintering the windows of neighboring apartments, including the one where Ana María Campos, fifty-one, lives with her seventy-year-old mother, Gracia.When Ana María woke up, there was a big hole next to her bed. Everything was covered in dust, including her eyes, so she had to feel her way through the house. There were holes in the kitchen wall, the living-room floor, the ceiling of her mother’s room. Ana María called out to her dad for help, even though he had died eight years earlier. “In the darkest moment of your life, you reach for that connection with a loved one,” she explained. Nearly everyone in her family has either died or left the country, leaving her and Gracia alone in Caracas. “Little by little, we settle into this feeling of having been abandoned by life,” Ana María told me.By January 6th, the death count had risen to fifty-eight: thirty-two Cuban agents, twenty-four Venezuelan soldiers, Rosa, and Johana. In a televised visit to western Caracas that evening, Delcy Rodríguez decreed seven days of national mourning. “The images of lifeless bodies have pierced my soul, but I know that they were martyred for the supreme values of the Republic,” she told the cameras. The armed forces held ceremonies for officers killed during the U.S. attack. Its social-media channels were flooded with videos of wooden caskets draped in the yellow, blue, and red of the Venezuelan flag, set to the opening verse of a song by Alí Primera: “Those who die for life cannot be called dead.”“This is a regime that loves propaganda,” the Venezuelan journalist Roberto Deniz told me. “And if there is something the revolution has always taken pride in, it’s its soldiers.” Yet the identities of many of the fallen officers had been shrouded in secrecy. An Instagram post by a general from the state of Aragua appeared to be the first public notice that the Presidential guard Eduardo Peraza Moreno had perished, four days after the fact. His name couldn’t be found on any lists or headlines. The singer Claudio David Balcane, who told me that he was a childhood friend of Eduardo, said it was as if a ghost had died: “He was twenty-eight years old. He came to this world and left it, and no one found out.”Ronna Rísquez, a journalist who has spent years exposing violent deaths in Venezuela, speculated that the government had avoided publishing a list of victims because it was reluctant “to recognize the staggering number of Cuban officers tasked with Maduro’s custody.” Rísquez is the co-founder and director of Monitor de Víctimas, an investigative platform that provides comprehensive data on violence in the country. Between 2017 and 2024, her team documented more than six thousand homicides, two-fifths of which had been committed by government forces. This month, the reporters have been focussed on exposing the human cost of the U.S. attack. By January 18th, they had verified eighty deaths, including those of the thirty-two Cubans.The presence of Cuban military and security officers in Venezuela was an open secret. Two agreements signed in 2008, whose details were later published by Reuters, granted Cuba the power to train Venezuelan soldiers and intelligence agents and restructure much of the country’s security apparatus. Still, both governments have consistently dodged questions about an overseas deployment or flat-out denied it. In a 2019 interview, Maduro suggested that there were no Cuban military officials stationed in the country, and declared that everyone in his security ring was Venezuelan. Díaz-Canel’s announcement that Cuban agents had died in Venezuela, and his government’s subsequent publication of the men’s names and ranks, broke decades of precedent.The two most senior men on the list, Colonel Humberto Roca and Colonel Lázaro Rodríguez, were identified in official obituaries as members of the Cuban Interior Ministry’s personal security division. Rodríguez had “organized the protection” of the island’s leaders, while Roca had held “maximum responsibility” for Fidel Castro’s safety. The majority of victims from the armed forces, however, were said to have been rank-and-file soldiers. A relative of Luis Hidalgo, who appeared on the list as a fifty-seven-year-old soldier, told the Cuban journalist Mario Pentón that Hidalgo was a civilian, and had been working as a chauffeur. “He did not go to Venezuela to defend a homeland, or to defend anything at all; he went there to help his family,” the relative said.In Venezuela, the demise of military officers elicited little sympathy, and that of Cubans even less. “The only deaths we are saddened by are those of civilians,” one man declared on Instagram. Everyone else, another one wrote, “had been on the wrong side of history.” The reports by Monitor de Víctimas prompted many users to enumerate the victims of Maduro’s regime. Compared with the eight million Venezuelans who had fled the country, the nearly twenty thousand who had been detained for political reasons, the thousands who had been extrajudicially executed, and the hundreds who had been tortured, the deaths of a few dozen people seemed of little significance.On January 10th, Rísquez’s team identified two more civilian victims: Lenín Ramírez Osorio and Eduardo Soto Libre, who had been previously listed as military officials, were actually air-traffic controllers. The men had been doing a shift at the Óscar Machado Zuloaga airport, an hour south of Caracas, when the U.S. bombed the area. Lenín had offered to drive Eduardo. A few minutes after his white car left the airport, it appears to have been hit by an explosive. Before dawn, several men passed the vehicle and stopped to film the wreckage. Only the chassis remained, engulfed by flames. Coming near, one of the passersby made out two elongated forms, the color of charcoal. They were Lenín and Eduardo.When the videos were shared on social media, many Venezuelans responded with skepticism. Some doubted that the car had been bombed or that anyone had been killed. Others speculated that the passengers were connected to the government. Two sisters close to Lenín fought to set the record straight. “They worked at the airport,” one of them explained. “The driver was my friend, and now he is gone.” Despite their efforts, many brushed off the men’s passing as “collateral damage.” Eventually, the sisters stopped responding, and their father took over. “Today, Lenín’s family and friends cry for him,” he wrote. “This is not about politics. 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Hello, my name is Maricarmen Monasterio, daughter of Erick and Ana Maria. My grandparents lived for 60 years in the apartment blocks of the Romulo Gallegos housing complex, La Soublette, Catia La Mar, La Guaira State. My family and I lived for a few years in my grandparents' apartment in Block 13, apartment C3, 3rd floor. I am the granddaughter of Rosario and Domenico! This is NOT a scam or spam, as many are saying; my intention is to help. In the early morning of January 3, 2026, due to the bombings in Venezuela, building 12 of the Romulo Gallegos housing complex, La Soublette, Catia La Mar, La Guaira State, was affected. The building has 16 apartments. One woman who lived in the building died, and Mrs. Tibizay Suárez is in the hospital with injuries. We believe the building collapse was caused by shockwaves from the explosives launched at the naval academy in Catia La Mar. The intention is to help the 16 affected families in this building; none of them asked me for help. I'm doing this with the intention of contributing my bit to my community.

Hola, me llamo Maricarmen Monasterio hija de Erick y Ana Maria, mis abuelos vivieron desde hace 60 años en los bloques de la urbanización Romulo Gallegos, la soublette, Catia la mar, Edo la Guaira. Mi familia y yo vivimos unos años en el apartamento de mis abuelos en el Bloque 13 apartamentos c3 piso 3 soy nieta de Rosario y Domenico! Esto NO ES UNA ESTAFA O SPAM como mucho están diciendo, mi intención es ayudar En la madrugada del 3 de enero de 2026 debido a los bombardeos en Venezuela el edificio 12 de la urbanización Romulo Gallegos, la soublette, Catia la mar, Edo la Guaira. se vio afectado, el edificio tiene 16 apartamentos. Una señora habitante del edificio murió y la señora Tibizay Suárez esta en el hospital herida. Creemos que el derrumbe del edificio ocurrió debido a las ondas por los explosivos que lanzaron en la escuela naval de Catia la mar. La intención es poder ayudar a las 16 familias afectadas en este edificio, ninguno de ellos me pidió ayuda esto lo hago con la intención de aportar un granito de arena a mi comunidad

Real journalists wrote and edited this (not AI)—independent, community-driven journalism survives because you back it. Donate to sustain Prism’s mission and the humans behind it.  Cacica Honta was in the neighborhood of Los Chaguaramos, near a military zone in Caracas, Venezuela, when the explosions from U.S. airstrikes on Jan. 3 began.  “The city shook with thunderous blasts that felt like they were splitting the earth,” Honta said in an interview with Prism, describing flashes lighting up the sky, the roar of aircraft overhead, and families scrambling for safety.  “It was a night of shared fear,” she said. “Where every family searched for shelter without knowing whether it was safer inside or outside their homes.” Nearly two weeks after the early-morning U.S. military operation to abduct President Nicolás Maduro, residents of northern Venezuela are still reeling. The attack killed at least 100 people, according to the Venezuelan interior minister, and tore through residential areas, leaving multiple families without safe housing.  In Caracas, an explosion detonated just meters from the home of Elena Berti Cupello, a 77-year-old retired cook and baker who has lived in the same house for more than 50 years. Her grandson, Juan Imery III, wrote on a GoFundMe campaign page for Berti Cupello that the blast occurred in her backyard. Berti Cupello survived, but her home did not. All of the windows were shattered, furniture destroyed, and both the main house and a small annex attached to the property were left uninhabitable, Imery said. Initial inspections indicated significant structural damage, with a full assessment pending due to safety constraints. With no pension and ongoing health issues, including high blood pressure, Berti Cupello had relied on renting out the annex as her sole means of financial independence. That income disappeared overnight.  “Elena is an innocent civilian, caught in circumstances completely beyond her control,” Imery wrote in the GoFundMe he launched to help cover her repairs and basic needs. Roughly 20 miles north, in the coastal city of Catia La Mar in the municipality of La Guaira, the effects were even deadlier. According to a separate GoFundMe campaign organized by Maricarmen Monasterio, a residential building in the Rómulo Gallegos housing complex in the La Soublette neighborhood partially collapsed following overnight bombardments. The affected building, known as Block 12, contained 16 apartments. One elderly woman who lived in the building was killed, Monasterio wrote, and another resident, Tibizay Suárez, was hospitalized with injuries. Monasterio wrote that residents believe the collapse was caused by shockwaves from explosives launched toward the nearby naval school. Beyond the physical destruction, many civilians describe lasting psychological harm.  “In my immediate surroundings, there were no deaths or destroyed houses,” Honta told Prism. “The damage was different, more invisible: neighbors suffering nervous breakdowns, children crying, adults unable to sleep.” “The community was left marked by the trauma of feeling war so close,” Honta said, “as if life itself could shatter at any moment.” Since that night, she added, loud noises trigger panic for her and make rest impossible. Monasterio said she wanted to set up her online fundraiser to help the 16 families affected in the damaged building, and that no one asked her to set it up. Her grandparents lived for decades in the Rómulo Gallegos complex. Monasterio said misinformation and fraud accusations have circulated online amid the chaos, prompting her to publicly affirm the legitimacy of the campaign and the scale of the damage.  In both cases, fundraiser organizers stressed that their efforts are aimed not at rebuilding luxury homes, but restoring basic safety and dignity for civilians caught in violence they neither caused nor could escape. Imery said that if funds remain after his grandmother’s home is repaired, he will use them to support neighbors whose properties were also damaged by the blast. Across affected areas, residents say official information has been scarce. “What prevails is opacity,” Honta said. She described increased police and armed presence in neighborhoods, alongside silence from authorities that has deepened fear and uncertainty. Meanwhile, the cost of living remains difficult, as citizens are caught between two oppressive powers. The country has been under U.S. sanctions since 2005, which escalated in 2017 and 2020. “Runaway inflation makes food increasingly inaccessible,” Honta said, describing life in Venezuela. “The fear of speaking, because any word can be used against you. It is like living trapped between two forces: a repressive regime and a foreign intervention that turns us into disputed territory. The people are caught in the middle, paying the cost of oil and mineral wealth that others covet.” Ultimately, Honta said, the U.S. invasion is a “violation of sovereignty” and “not humanitarian aid” but rather “an operation to control energy resources and reshape the regional political map.”  “This is not about ideology—it is about survival: being able to eat, having water, receiving medical care, letting children go to school,” Honta said. “The people want dignity, not empty speeches or invasions disguised as aid. They are not looking for armed heroes; they want to live in peace.” She said she dreams of a country where dignity is possible, which includes fair wages, guaranteed basic services, real justice, and the freedom to speak without fear.  “Hope lies in community resistance, in not being erased or turned into a sacrifice zone,” Honta said. “We want the world to see us as a people, not as spoils.” Editorial Team:Sahar Fatima, Lead EditorCarolyn Copeland, Top EditorRashmee Kumar, Copy Editor